London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

China’s Xi’an imposes ‘strictest’ controls to halt COVID outbreak

China’s Xi’an imposes ‘strictest’ controls to halt COVID outbreak

Since locking down the city last week, authorities launched several rounds of mass testing and placed nearly 30,000 people in hotel quarantine.
The locked-down Chinese city of Xi’an has tightened COVID-19 controls to the “strictest” level, banning residents from driving cars around town in an effort to control the country’s worst outbreak in 21 months.

Restrictions tightened further on Monday as Xi’an announced it would impose the “strictest social control measures”, according to a city government social media account.

China has stuck to a “zero-COVID” strategy of tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns as Beijing prepares to welcome thousands of visitors for February’s Winter Olympics.

But Xi’an – where 13 million residents are facing their fifth day of home confinement – is at the centre of a flare-up that has pushed nationwide daily infections to their highest numbers since March 2020.

The northern city – home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors – recorded 150 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to about 650 since December 9.

No vehicles are allowed on the roads unless they are assisting with disease control work, the latest announcement said.

Police and health officials will “strictly inspect” cars, and those who break the rules could face 10 days’ detention and a fine of 500 yuan ($78).

Two other cities in Shaanxi province also reported a case linked to Xi’an, as authorities urged migrant workers from the city not to travel home in the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.

The outbreak of the fast-spreading Delta variant has caused severe symptoms in four patients including a one-year-old child, the state-run paper the Global Times reported.

Since locking down the city last week, authorities have launched several rounds of mass testing and placed nearly 30,000 people in hotel quarantine.

All non-essential businesses have been closed, while each household can only send out one person to buy necessities every three days.

The Xi’an government has come under fire for its perceived poor handling of the outbreak, with China’s disciplinary body saying last week that 26 local officials had been punished for lapses in virus prevention.

Authorities have strictly limited movement into and out of the city, with footage from state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday showing trucks waiting in line at road checkpoints as workers in hazmat suits checked health data on drivers’ mobile phones.

Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China has largely kept the pandemic at bay.

The country has officially recorded only two deaths in more than a year.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×